by Angeles

Created on: April 18, 2008

Sometimes, the seemingly little things we do are the biggest thing to someone else. The simple act of listening is one of those things.

I have a very clear memory of an incident that happened when I was a little girl, about 6 years old. I was in the kitchen where my mom was baking cookies (probably, chocolate chip). It was a hot day in sunny Southern California. My mom had her back to me as she stood at the kitchen sink. I saw the metal cookie tray sitting on the kitchen table. For some reason, I thought the tray would be cold because it was made of metal. I wasn't much taller than the table, so I bent down slightly and put my lips on the edge of the cookie tray. It was only then that I realized it had just come out of the oven!

As I let out my scream, leaving small pieces of my lips on the tray, my mom turned around and saw what I had done. She grabbed a soft cloth, wrapped it around some ice cubes and took me in her lap while she held the ice to my mouth. I remember sitting in her lap while she gently rocked me and kissed the top of my head. She softly asked me "Why did you do that?" I told her I thought it would be cold, and feel good on my mouth. She made no reply, she simply continued to rock me gently. I felt safe and loved in my mother's arms as she did her best to help me feel better.

While I don't have any children of my own, I listen to friends who do their best to find the words to say that will help take their children's pain away. Being human, we are so quick to want to "fix" whatever is broken with words when really it's simply the act of listening that helps the most. For in the listening there is the connection and feeling of being held softly in someone's arms.

Have you ever experienced that? Sharing a pain you have with a loved one and while they didn't have the words to take the problem away, it just felt so good to have someone listen in a caring, understanding way. It was in their act of being with you emotionally which helped you to feel held in love.

I heard a quote of Mother Theresa's, while I can't speak to its authenticity, I find it profound. She was being interviewed by a journalist and was asked "Mother Theresa, when you pray to God, what do you say?" "Oh," she said "I don't say anything, I just listen." "Well, then," asked the journalist, "What does God say?" She replied, "He doesn't say anything, he just listens."

While I may be too big for my mothers lap these days, I'll never be too big to sit in God's lap. God knows our hearts. Words are not necessary between a creator and its creation. Even when my pain is due to my own actions, I sometimes feel it to be difficult to take it to my higher power. Yet I find when I do, that the loving lap is always big enough to hold me. God's arms are always available to me, I only have to make myself available to them. This happens simply by taking one step forward into those big open arms. There I imagine myself to be gently rocked and kissed on the top of my head. Circumstances haven't really changed, the pain may still be there, yet I know I am loved.

The next time you need a cuddle, simply take the time to be cradled in the arms of this loving presence, or give the gift of listening to another. You'll feel that cuddle, just the same.

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